Hedging

Osmanthus × burkwoodii

Burkwood osmanthus

Glossy evergreen leaves and clusters of small white flowers with a sweet, jasmine-like scent in spring. A dense, neat hedge that clips beautifully.

  • Evergreen, glossy dark green leaves

  • Highly scented white flowers in mid-spring

  • Dense, compact habit

  • Clips beautifully

Please check before you visit. Our nursery is very well stocked, but what we hold changes with the seasons, so this plant may not always be in stock. Enquire before you head over and we will check availability and the sizes we have for you.

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At a glance

Type

Hedging

Foliage

Evergreen

Seasons of interest

Year-round foliage, spring scent

Growth rate

Slow to moderate

Hedge height

Suits hedges from about 1 m to 2.5 m

Position

Full sun or partial shade

Soil

Most well-drained soils, including chalk

Hardiness

Fully hardy in the UK

Available

A range of sizes, from value hedging plants to large instant hedging for an immediate result. Ask our team for current availability and pricing.

Why we love Osmanthus

If you want scent as well as structure, plant Osmanthus. Osmanthus × burkwoodii is a neat, dense evergreen with small, glossy, dark green leaves, and every April and May it is covered in clusters of small white flowers with a sweet, jasmine-like fragrance that carries across the garden.

It has become one of the most popular alternatives to box, with the same fine texture and the bonus of spring flowers. Plant it beside a path, a door or a bench, where you can enjoy the scent up close. It's fully hardy and takes a clip beautifully.

Choosing a size

Osmanthus grows slowly, around 15 to 30cm a year, so buy the height you want. Plants of 40 to 60cm make a lovely low hedge or box replacement, and 60 to 100cm divides a garden. For a medium privacy screen at 1.5 to 2.5m, start with plants of 175cm and above and you'll have a substantial hedge straight away.

How many per metre depends on how wide the plants are when they arrive: divide 100 by the width in centimetres. A 50cm wide plant goes in at 2 per metre, and compact young plants for low hedges usually go in at 3 to 4 per metre so they close up sooner. The calculator above works it out for you, and the team will check the spacing on every order.

Planting

Plant in autumn or early spring while the soil is moist. Autumn gives the best start, with the roots settled before it flowers, and pot-grown plants can go in at any time with watering. Dig a trench about twice the width of the root balls, mix in well-rotted garden compost, and keep the top of the root ball level with the soil. Loosen the hessian at the top of large root balls but leave any wire in place. Water well and mulch with peat-free mulch, keeping it clear of the stems. Osmanthus hates ground that stays wet in winter, so on heavy clay, improve the drainage first.

Looking after it

Water deeply once or twice a week in dry spells for the first two summers. After that, trim once a year straight after flowering, in late May or June. It flowers on last year's growth, so clipping then leaves the whole summer for next spring's buds to form. A second light tidy in late summer is fine if you like it very crisp, though you'll trim off some flowers. Check for nesting birds before you clip.

If it ever gets away from you, it can be cut back hard after flowering and will regrow from older wood, taking a season or two to flower freely again.

Will it grow in shade?

Yes. It flowers most freely in full sun, but it still makes a dense, healthy hedge in partial shade, so it suits courtyards and town gardens.

See it in person

Every plant at Form is hand-selected, none contains new peat, and nothing beats choosing yours by eye. Visit our Row Town showroom in Surrey, just 30 minutes from London, where our team will show you the best of what is on the nursery right now. We deliver across London, Surrey and the Home Counties, and nationwide.

Walk in any time during opening hours and you will be looked after. If you would like dedicated time with a specialist, book a Genus Bar appointment.

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The Form Plants showroom at Row Town, Surrey, among ornamental grasses

Frequently asked questions

  • Osmanthus × burkwoodii is a slow to moderate grower, typically putting on around 15 to 30cm a year once established. Its steady growth means it keeps a neat shape with one main trim a year, and choosing larger plants is the quickest route to a tall hedge.

  • Osmanthus × burkwoodii flowers in spring, usually in April and May. The small white tubular flowers are produced in clusters along the stems and have a sweet, jasmine-like scent that carries a long way on a still day.

  • Prune an Osmanthus × burkwoodii hedge straight after flowering, in late May or June. It flowers on the previous year's growth, so trimming then keeps the hedge neat while leaving time for next spring's flower buds to form. Check for nesting birds before you start.

  • Spacing depends on how wide the plants are supplied: divide 100 by the width in centimetres, so a plant 50cm wide is planted at 2 per metre. Compact young plants for low hedges usually go in at around 3 to 4 per metre, and wide Premium root balls at around 1.5 per metre. The Form Plants team confirms spacing for each order.

  • Yes, Osmanthus × burkwoodii is one of the most popular alternatives to box. It has small, glossy evergreen leaves that clip into a crisp, fine-textured hedge, and it adds scented white flowers in spring. It suits low edging through to medium hedges of around 2.5m.

  • Yes, Osmanthus × burkwoodii is fully evergreen, keeping its small, glossy, dark green leaves all year. That makes it a reliable choice for year-round structure in formal and town gardens.

  • An Osmanthus × burkwoodii hedge is ideal at anywhere from about 50cm to 2.5m and is easy to keep at your chosen height. Left unclipped, it slowly forms a rounded shrub around 3m tall and wide over many years.

  • Osmanthus × burkwoodii grows well in full sun or partial shade. It flowers most freely in sun, but it still makes a dense, healthy hedge in part shade, which suits courtyards and town gardens.

  • Osmanthus is not known to be toxic to dogs, cats or people, which makes it a popular choice for family gardens. As with any garden plant, it is still best to discourage pets from chewing the leaves.

  • The cost depends on the height and tier you choose. Value plants are younger, compact plants for low hedges and longer runs on a budget, while Premium plants are fuller, more mature root-balled plants for an instant, finished hedge. Live prices and sizes are shown on this page, and the team confirms quantities and pricing for each order.

  • Yes. You are welcome to visit the Form Plants showroom at Row Town in Surrey, open Monday to Saturday and on bank holidays, to see the hedging and choose your plants. You can simply pop in during opening hours, or book a Genus Bar appointment for unhurried time with the team and help with quantities.

  • Yes, Form Plants delivers nationwide. Our in-house team arranges every delivery and can offload larger root-balled plants and instant hedge elements by HIAB or Moffett crane where access allows. Delivery is quoted for each order depending on size, quantity and location.

All our hedging

Explore every option in our hedging collection, or view them all with photographs →

Can’t see what you’re looking for?

Get in touch and we’ll help you find it. Our nursery is very well stocked and we can source almost any plant through our network of trusted growers. Email info@formplants.com, or send us your whole plant list through our bespoke sourcing service.

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